Mansfield is a large town in Nottinghamshire. The town is surrounded by a pocket of steep hills within the Maun Valley, and has a population of 67,885, with satellite towns bringing the total up substantially. An industrial town, built on coal, it has declined somewhat since its great days but remains the greatest town of northern Nottinghamshire.

Coal has been central to the town since the Industrial Revolution and the Coal Authority is still based in the town.

Mansfield is thought to date back at least to Roman times, as coins from those times and the remins of a villa have been found here. Later ages found the town a base for deerhunts in Sherwood Forest; the Mercian Kings are said to having used it so.[1]

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The town

Mansfield has a large market square and around the market a large commercial centre including a museum, the Palace Theatre and numerous pubs, bars and night clubs. It has also a new indoor market which is nearing completion.

Mansfield was originally the home of Mansfield Brewery, once the largest independent brewer in Britain.[2] The brewery was taken over in October 1999 and brewing moving to other parts of the country, the old brewery closed down.

Several urban regeneration projects are underway in Mansfield, including reconstruction of the nearby Kings Mill Hospital and the MARR (Mansfield and Ashfield Regeneration Route) which was completed 3 months early; it is basically a bypass route round the town designed to reduce traffic flow and improve public transport.

In 2009 Mansfield made a bid for city status and many more redevelopment plans were unveiled to fit with this, such as retail & residential developments, leisure facilities and road improvements, which are underway around the town.[3] However the Town was Absent from the 2012 short list.

Sport

Mansfield is home to Mansfield Town FC, known as the Stags. They were relegated to the Conference National after 77 years in the Football League at the end of the 2007–08 season. The team's traditional rival is the nearby town of Chesterfield in Derbyshire. The rivalry between the two clubs is considered among the fiercest in the lower leagues.

Some Yorkshire (and Derbyshire) folk still associate Mansfield with failure to support the miners' strike of 1984–1985) and football matches against Barnsley, Rotherham United, Doncaster Rovers and Chesterfield and have seen fans of the latter chant "scab".

Angling is well supported in the Mansfield district, where ponds remain from the former textile milling industry.

There is Mansfield Lawn Tennis Club too, which has 4 grass courts and 5 hard courts.

Culture and Entertainment

The 'Palace Theatre is on Leeming Street and is the town's primary entertainment venue. Built as a cinema in 1910, it was originally known as the Palace Electric Theatre and was later adapted to a proscenium arch theatre presenting live shows. It has also been known as the Civic Hall and Civic Theatre before the current name was revived in the 1990s.

Mansfield Museum is alongside the Palace Theatre.

The Town Mill was a Mansfield music venue that was converted from the original industrial mill of Mansfield. The Town Mill re-opened its doors in 2002. It closed on in December 2010 and remains so despite an attempt to reopen it by a community interest company consisting of former customers.

The Sherwood Forest sculpture stands on the West Gate. Sherwood Forest itself begins just a few miles outside of Mansfield; Mansfield had an Oak Tree and a plaque to mark what was the centre of Sherwood Forest on West Gate but now the trees have been taken down and a giant metallic feather has replaced them as a marker. Residents of the town feel this is an eyesore, and the feather sculpture has been plagued by health and safety problems.

Summer In The Streets

Every year between the months of June & August, the local Council hosts an event called Summer In The Streets. This festival consists of various public events held all over the town over many days, such as children's entertainment, fairground rides in the market square, hands on workshops for things like crafts & circus skills. The highlight of the festival is an event held in the town's Titchfield park, called 'Party In The Park'. This hosts a wide range of entertainment, such as live music acts by local bands, performances from local dance groups and activities such as face painting.

Media

The local newspaper is the Chad (Formerly Chronicle Advertiser). Mansfield is home to one radio station, Mansfield 103.2 broadcast from the Fishpond Hill transmitting station on Skegby Lane which also broadcasts Mansfield versions of the Nottingham stations BBC Radio Nottingham and 96 Trent FM on 95.5 and 96.5 FM respectively.

In literature

The 2005 and 2007 editions of Channel 4's programme The Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK named Mansfield as the sixth and ninth worst place to live in Britain, largely due to the poor performance of schools in the area at the time.[5]